Rack



Jne 25, 1946.

' W. G. MURPHY ETAL l RACK ' Filed July 30, 1945 I. m KM www Patented June 25, 1946 orifice RACK Walter G. Murphy, Los Angeles, and Alvin Kingsbacher, Pasadena, Calif.

Applica-tion July 30, 1945, Serial No. 607,850

Claims. (Cl. 2li-99) This invention has reference to foldable or collapsible racks of the general type adapted to be mounted upon a wall and adapted to carry neckties or other similar articles of apparel. The general purpose and objective of the invention is to provide a form of rack which is extremely simple in its structure and operation, and which consists of only two pieces each capable of low cost production by molding in some suitable material such as a plastic.

The features of the invention will best be understood from the following detailed description of a preferred form, reference being had to the accompanying drawing in which,

Fig. 1 is a vertical section showing the rack in its extended position;

Fig. 2 is a vertical section taken as indicated by line 2--2 on Fig. 1,

Fig. 3 is a section similar to that of Fig. l but showing the rack in its collapsed or hanging position, and

Figs. 4 and 5 are diagrams illustrating the mode of assembly and disassembly of the parts.

As shown in the drawing the rack has a body B in the form of a bracket adapted to be secured by screws or otherwise to a wall or other upright surface. The body bracket B has two forwardly projecting ears I0, one at each of the opposite ends of its elongate base member 9. The hanger 20 of the rack hangs from those two ears and is adapted either to project out horizontally from the bracket as shown in Fig. 1 or to hang down vertically from it, as shown in Fig. 3. The body bracket B with its integral ears I0 constitutes one of the two moldable pieces of the device, and the hanger 20, in the form of a grid which will be explained, constitutes the other of the two pieces of the complete device.

Hanger 20 is generally rectangular in form and is comprised of an external framing and transverse grid bars 2|, the framing and grid bars being integrally molded in one piece. The external framing includes a transverse member 22 which will be called the head member of the frame, two longitudinal side members 23 between which the grid bars 2| extend, and a transverse fralme member 24 at the outer or lower end of the hanger. The length dimension of the hanger frame, and the number of spaced grid bars 2| may be made as desired.

'I'he external width dimension of the hanger frame (the dimension in Fig. 2 between the outer edge faces of the two longitudinal frame members 23) is preferably somewhat less than the corresponding width dimension between the two internal opposed faces of the two ears l0. Two integrally molded pins I I project oppositely from the opposite edge faces of 23 into two horizontally extending slots or grooves I2 in the inner faces of the two ears I0. Pins II are located a little distance from the extreme head end of `hanger 20, as shown in Fig. l; and when the hanger is in the horizontal position of Fig. 1 the extreme head end of the head frame member 22 is received ina horizontal groove I4 which is recessed into the front face of the main member 9 of bracket body B. In this position of the parts pins II are located inward of the outer ends of ear slots I2, as shown in Fig. 1. In that position the weight of the hanger and of any articles upon it, is taken by pins I I bearing downwardly on the lower walls of slots I2, and by the head end 22 bearing upwardly against the upper wall of groove I4. Those slot and groove walls are so located, with relation to head frame member 22 and pins II that hanger 20 will be supported in substantially horizontal position. Groove I4 is preferably a little wider in a vertical direction than head member 22, and ear slots I2 are preferably a little wider in a vertical direction than the diameters of pins II, to give clearances which will allow the hanger to be moved between its two positions easily and without the necessity of accurate registration.

To lower the hanger to the vertical or collapsed position of Fig. 3, the hanger is merely pulled outwardly (to the left in Fig. l) until head member 22 clears groove I4. This movement moves pins II out to or toward the outer closed ends of slots I2. The hanger may then be allowed to swing downwardly to the position of Fig. 3. Conversely, to move the hanger from the position of Fig. 3 to that of Fig. 1, the hanger is rst swung up to the horizontal position with pins II still at or near the outer ends of slots I2. Upon reaching the horizontal position, hanger 20 is merely shoved horizontally inwardly to enter head member 22 in bracket groove I4.

To facilitate assembly and disassembly of the rack one of `the ears I0, say the left one in Fig. 2, is provided with a vertical extension slot I3 extending diagonally upwardly from the horizontal slot or groove I2 to the upper end surface of the ear I0, as shown in Fig. 1. With hanger 2!) in such a horizontal position as shown in Fig. l and pulled outwardly to clear head member 22 from groove I4, one of pins II (the one shown at the left in Fig. 2) then registers with the vertical extension slot I3. However, in that position the hanger cannot be removed from the bracket because the inward inclination of slot I3 will force the head end 22 against the bracket as the hanger is moved up. To remove the hanger it is necessary rst to swing it to a position which it does not normally occupy in use; it must be swung up to or close to vertical position to its hanging position of Fig. 3. In that last described position of the parts, the left hand side of hanger 20 can be swung upwardly'to move the lefthand pin up through and out of slot I3. With the left hand side of the hanger swung up high enough to clear the lefthand ear IG, the righthand hanger pin II may then be removed from the righthand ear slot IZ by moving the hanger toward the left. The loose clearance of the latter mentioned pin I I in itsI slot I2, and the lateral clearance at C We claim:

l. A rack of the character described, comprising the combination of a one-piece bracket and a one-piece hanger supported thereon, the bracketcomprising an elongate base member adapted to be secured with its rear face against an upright surface, and two forwardly projecting ears at the ends of the base member and lying in substantially vertical planes, the hanger cornprising a frame and cross-bars in grid formation, the frame having a transverse head member at one end and a pair of pins projecting outwardly between the side edges of hanger 2i) and the inner opposed faces of ear IIJ, as shown in Fig. 2, allow of the swinging movement described. To assemble the parts the opposite sequence of operations is performed.

Both ears Il) could of course be provided with the verticalA extension slot I3, and in that event the hanger could merely be lifted bodily upwardly after being swung to either of its vertical Y positions. However the provision of the vertical slot I3 in one ear only has the advantage of simplifying moldsand molding procedure; and it also .has the advantage that the rack is much less likely-to become accidentally disassembled, because the hangerhas to be swung to an abnor- `malposition before it can be removed.

sition and with the right hand pin I I in the outer end of slot I2, it will be noted that the vertical distance from that pin to the curved upper edge of the bracket is considerably less than the full vertical dimension of the bracket. Also it will be noted that the distance between the pins and the extreme head end of the hanger is less than the full vertical dimension of the bracket so that the left hand edge of the head end does not strike the lower inner edge of the left hand bracket as the left side of the hanger is moved up.

Figs. 4 and 5 diagrammatically illustrate the principles involved in the foregoing. The line at Illa represents the effective upper edge of the right hand bracket above the right hand .pin Il when that pin is at the outer end of its slot I2. That line is lower than the extreme upper edge of the bracket and of the slot I 3, due to the curved upper-and-outer edge face IUb of the brackets. As shown in Fig. 4, the left hand edge of hanger 20 will strike the lower inner edge of left hand bracket I0 before left hand pin II reaches the upper lend of slot I3. But as shown in Fig. 5, when the hanger is thrown to its upper vertical or near vertical position, thelower left hand corner 22a of the bracket head22 will clear the inner face of left hand bracket I0, rallowing the left side of the hanger, and its pin,- to be lifted clear of left hand bracket I0 and its slot I3.

As shown in the drawing, slots I2 and I3 are shown as grooves which extend in depth from the inner faces of ears I!) only part way through the thickness of those ears. The depth extent however is immaterial and may be such as to extend clear through the thicknesses of the earsif desired.,

` from the side edges of the frame at a distance removed from the extreme head end of the frame, the bracket ears having horizontally extending slots in their inner faces which oppose each other and the bracket base having a horizontally extending groove in its forward face at about the level of the ear slots, said groove adapted to take the extreme head end of the hanger when the Vlatter is in a substantially horizontal position, said ear slots taking the two hanger pins and being of such horizontal extent as to allow the hanger` to be pulledk out to disengage its head end fromthe bracket groove and thus to allow the hanger to be swung downwardly on its pins, and a vertical slot in at least one of the bracket ears adapted to pass at least one of the hanger pins upwardly from -a horizontal ear slot when the hanger is disengaged from the bracket groove.

2. A rack of the character described, comprising lthe combination of a one-piece bracket and a one-piece hanger 'supported thereon, the bracket comprising an elongate base member adapted to be secured with its rear face against an upright surface, and two forwardly projecting ears at the ends ofthe base member and lying in substantiallyvertical planes, the hanger comprising a frame kand cross-bars in grid formation, n the frame having a transverse head member at one end and a pair of pins projecting outwardly from the side edges of the frame at a distance removed from the extreme head end of `the frame, the bracketV ears having horizontally extending slots in their inner faces which oppose each other and the bracket base having a horizontally extending groove in its forward face at about the level of the ear slots, said groove adapted to take the extreme head end of the hanger when the latter is in a substantially horizontal position, said ear slots taking the two hanger pins 'and being of such horizontal extent as to allow the hanger to be pulled out to disengage itshead end from the bracket groove and thus tof allow the hanger to be swung downwardly on its pins, and a vertical slot in one only of the bracket ears adapted to pass one of the hanger pins upwardly from a horizontal ear slot when the hanger is disengaged from the bracket groove, the other pin fitting its associated ear slot loosely and the transverse dimension of the head end of the hanger being less than the distance between the two opposed faces of the ears, to allow swinging movement vof /the'hanger between the two ears as the `one' hanger pin is moved upwardly in its as- `sociated vertical slot. i v 3. A rack of the character described, comprising the combination of a bracket anda hanger supported thereon, the bracket comprising an elongate base member adapted to be secured with its rear face against an upright surface, and two forwardly projectingears at the ends of the base member and lying in substantially vertical planes, the hanger comprising a iiat frame having a transversehead member at one end and a pair of pins projecting outwardly from the side edges of the frame at a distance removed from the extreme head end of the framey the bracket ears having horizontally extending slots in their inner faces which oppose each other and the bracket base having a horizontally extending and downwardly facing shoulder behind its forward face at about the level of the ear slots, the head end of the hanger frame being adapted to lie under said shoulder when the hanger frame is in a substantially horizontal position, said ear slots taking the two hanger pins and being of such hor,- izontal extent as to allow the hanger to be pulled out forwardly to disengage its head end from the bracket shoulder and thus to allow the hanger to be swung downwardly on its pins, and a vertically extending slot in at least one of the bracket ears adapted to pass at least one of the hanger pins upwardly lfrom e, point near the forward end of a horizont-al ear slot to the upper edge of that ear slot, said vertical slot being inclined from a point near the forward end of the horizontal slot inwardly toward the front face of the bracket.

4. A rack of the character described, comprising the combination of a bracket and a hangerl supported thereon, the bracket comprising an elongate base member adapted to be secured with its rear face against an upright surface, and two forwardly vprojecting ears at the ends of the base member and lying in substantially vertical planes,

.thehanger comprising a fiat frame having a transverse head member at one end and a, pair of pins projecting outwardly from the side edges of the frame at a distance removed from the extreme head end of the frame, the bracket ears having horizontally extending slots in their inner faces which oppose each other and the bracket base having a horizontally extending and downwardly facing shoulder behind its forward face at about the level of the ear slots, the head end of the hanger frame being adapted to lie under said shoulder when the hanger frame is in a substantially horizontal position, said ear slots taking the two hanger pins and being of such horizontal extent as to allow the hanger to be pulled out forwardly to disengage its head end from the bracket shoulder and thus to allow the hanger to be swung downwardly on its pins, and a vertically extending slot in one only of the bracket ears, said slot extending diagonally upwardly from a point near the outer end of the corresponding horizontal slot and inclining inwardly toward the front face of the bracket, said inclined vertical slot adapted to pass the corre- 6 spending one of the hanger pins upwardly from the corresponding horizontal slot to substantially the extreme upper edge of said bracket, the other of said brackets having a downwardly and forwardly sloping top-and-front edge so that the vertical distance between the outer end of the horizontal slot and the upper edge of saidbracket is less than the maximum vertical height of the iirst mentioned bracket.

5. A rack of the character described, comprising the combination of a bracket and a hanger supported thereon, the bracket comprising an elongate base member adapted to be secured with its rear face against an upright surface, and two forwardly projecting ears at the ends of the base member and lying in substantially vertical planes, the hanger comprising a flat frame having a transverse head member at one end and a pair oi pins projecting outwardly from the side edges of the frame at a distance removed from the extreme head end of the frame, the bracket ears having horizontally extending slots in their inner faces which oppose each other and the bracket base having a horizontally extending and downwardly facing shoulder behind its forward face at about the level of the ear slots, the head end of the hanger frame being adapted te lie under said shoulder when the hanger frame is in a substantially horizontal position, said ear slots taking the two hanger pins and being of such horizontal extent as to allow the hanger to be pulled out forwardly to disengage its head end from the bracket shoulder and thus to allow the hanger to be swung downwardly on its pins, and a vertically extending slot in one only of the bracket ears, said slot extending diagonally upwardly from a point near the outer end of the corresponding horizontal slot and inclining inwardly toward the front face of the bracket, said inclined vertical slot adapted to pass the correis less than the maximum vertical height of the rst mentioned bracket, and the distance between the hanger pins and the extreme head end of the hanger being less than the maximum vertical height of the bracket ears.

WALTER G. MURPHY. ALVIN KINGSBACHER. 

